This is a rather new and developing technique.
In practice, by means of an ultrasound scanner, the thickness of the abdominal fold of the fetus is detected. This diagnostic study was suggested by an experimental study which revealed many correlations of considerable health importance both for the unborn child and for the pregnant woman.
Let's start by saying that, even if it is rather deducible, the thickness of the abdominal plica is directly proportional to the weight of the fetus and therefore (most of the times) also of the newborn. This value decreases significantly in premature infants while it increases drastically in children who are delayed in childbirth and in those suffering from macrosomia; it goes without saying that, in this sense, the abdominal fold of the fetus has a considerable predictive power.
Then, as the abdominal fold increased (for the unborn babies, not premature and not even permanent beyond the maximum limit) a direct correlation was observed with the incidence of macrosomia in the child born of mothers with gravidic diabetes (the latter, a rather widespread complication, around 7% of total gestations).
A similar circumstance (macrosomia) implicitly suggests that a cesarean section rather than a natural technique should be preferred. Obviously, this is to the benefit of maternal and newborn health.
Ultimately, it is a simple, repeatable technique of considerable importance in estimating the prenatal nutritional condition; furthermore, in addition to fetal biometry, it is very advantageous for the clinical improvement of maternal-fetal outcome in the short and long term.
